Month: June 2018

It is the last weekend ahead of the start of the $10,000 World Championship – the “Main Event” – at the 2018 World Series of Poker. There is still some business to wrap up, however, with some of the preliminary events. In one tournament, a previously unknown player was able to rout a trio of… Read more »

In an incident on social media that occurred earlier this week, poker professional and 2016 World Series of Poker champion Ryan Laplante was the victim of what appears to be a gay bashing attack. In this particular case, it is another poker player who wrote the unfortunate words. It All Started with a Tweet… On… Read more »

When Pennsylvania became the fourth state to pass online gaming and poker regulation, it was expected that there would be a flood of activity fighting for those licenses. Instead, it appears that there has been a bit of a slow start to the licensing procedures, perhaps jeopardizing the opening of the Pennsylvania industry later this… Read more »

A two-year old staking dispute between poker pro and World Series of Poker Circuit event destroyer Maurice Hawkins and attorney Hal Lewis that became a legal battle has ended amicably, according to recently filed court documents. The issue goes back to early 2016 when the two men met in Jacksonville. After they got to know… Read more »

The good news: Kentucky state Senators are trying to legalize sports betting in the state next year. The bad news: the taxes they propose will kill the industry before it starts. Senator Julian Carroll (D – Dist. 7) pre-filed BR 29, essentially getting it all set to go so that he can quickly introduce it… Read more »

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) announced Wednesday that it has rebranded itself as the Poker Alliance and will now be led by Mark Brenner, billed as a “longtime business development and government relations executive.” What the Poker Alliance did not say in its news release today, though, is that this rebranding and new leadership is… Read more »

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has fined gaming company 32Red more than £2 million for failing to properly implement problem gambling and money laundering controls. The issues stem from a player who both deposited much more money than he could afford but also showed problem gambling behaviors on nearly two dozen occasions. Player’s Communications… Read more »

Last week, Sander Dekker, Minister for Legal Protection of the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security posted a statement outlining his Ministry’s plans for changes to the Netherlands’ Remote Gambling Act in an effort to open up the country for online gambling while at the same time offering protections to players. Not that long ago,… Read more »

Saturday nights at the World Series of Poker is always a fun time. Usually one of the “big dollar” buy in tournaments reaches its conclusion and this Saturday was no different. In fact, it was the rematch of two men who faced off in 2017 in another WSOP bracelet contest, with the outcome this time… Read more »

Another outstanding day of poker is in the books at the 2018 World Series of Poker. An exciting “last hand of the night” brought one of the bigger buy-in tournaments of this year’s WSOP to the money, while another non-Hold’em game got its moment in the sun in its $10K Championship. Event #42 – $25,000… Read more »

The summer of 2018 has seen several states step up to offer sports betting – both live and online – to their constituents. But one thing that some thought would be swept up in the passage of sports betting regulations – the regulation of online casino gaming and poker – has failed to materialize. Rhode… Read more »

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi capped off several days of dominance on Tuesday as he won the 2018 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship for an astounding third time in only the thirteenth year of the tournament’s existence. Defeating John Hennigan, another previously winner of the event, heads-up, Mizrachi cashed for $1,239,126. Mizrachi previously… Read more »

On Friday, the World Series of Poker announced that the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop event has garnered 30 registrations so far. The tournament is the last one on the 2018 WSOP schedule, running July 15th through July 17th. ESPN and Poker Central’s PokerGO subscription service will team up to air the… Read more »

All eyes on Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. For the third straight day, Mizrachi leads the field in the 2018 World Series of Poker $50,000 Poker Players Championship, holding nearly twice as many chips as his closest competitor with just six players remaining. Going into Tuesday’s final day, Mizrachi has 8.865 million chips, compared to Dan… Read more »

Michael Mizrachi REALLY likes the $50,000 Poker Players Championship at the World Series of Poker. Mizrachi, who has won the event – one of the most prestigious at the WSOP – twice, is the chip leader after Day 3 of this year’s tournament with just twelve players remaining. Mizrachi was the chip leader going into… Read more »

Last fall, the Oregon Lottery terminated its contract with Portland Meadows, revoking the racetrack’s license to house ten video lottery terminals because the venue has engaged in what the Oregon Lottery considers illegal gambling. Portland Meadows appealed the decision, but recently, the Lottery responded, denying the appeal and confirming its own ruling from last year.… Read more »

The 2018 World Series of Poker was in full swing on Saturday, with one of the big “made for the WSOP” marquee events in the $1000 “Double Stack” stepping up for action. But most eyes were on two other events, one in which a WSOP bracelet was awarded and another in which a two-time winner… Read more »

Although we are only a few weeks into the 2018 World Series of Poker, there is a battle brewing for the prestigious WSOP Player of the Year race. Leading the way, perhaps natural after the change to the tabulation system, are two 2018 bracelet winners, with one pulling out an edge due to his performance… Read more »

The 2018 World Series of Poker has entered its third weekend of action and the big guns have come out. In one event, an extra day was required to determine a champion while, in another, one of the most prestigious events in the game got underway. Event #27 – $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship After having the… Read more »

While they were expected to be the first “newcomer” to the sports betting world after court decisions, New Jersey instead became the second (after Delaware) with their actions on Thursday. The Garden State became the third state to officially open their borders for sports betting bright and early on a sunny Thursday on both ends… Read more »

Brian Rast won the $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw event at the 2018 World Series of Poker this week topping a small but intimidating field of 95 players. It was the fourth bracelet of his career – two of which were in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship – and he now has over $21 million… Read more »

Soccer (er…football) fans around the world are jacked for the start of the FIFA World Cup tomorrow and as online poker players might have expected, PokerStars is running a special Spin & Goal promotion to celebrate. And it’s called – obviously – Spin & Goal. As is the case with every Spin & Go…spin-off…Spin &… Read more »

The 2018 World Series of Poker is currently in full swing in Las Vegas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look ahead to what else is coming up this year. And since everyone in the poker world is paying attention to the WSOP, what better time for Caesars to release the schedule for the 2018… Read more »

Last week, partypoker became the second online poker site to join the player pools of France and Spain, as it launched partypoker.eu. PokerStars was the first site to do so back in January. “I am extremely enthusiastic about joining partypoker to actively support their efforts to bring back the ‘Poker First’ mentality, live and online,”… Read more »

From the “good news / bad news” file, residents of Switzerland have voted in favor of a referendum that will legalize online gambling, buuuuttt…only Switzerland’s brick-and-mortar casinos will be able to offer online gaming. The law, which has already been passed by both houses of parliament, will go into effect at the beginning of next… Read more »